Two Fish
by okumori
Summary: At the close of the year, Kaiba shares a secret with Jounouchi about his past. Puppyshipping, post-canon one-shot.


For Saevam, who gave me the prompt bed head, freezing, blue, and family traditions.

* * *

"Jounouchi, wake _up_!" Kaiba hissed into the darkness. Still hovering on the edge of sleep, Jounouchi clutched at his pillow and mumbled, turning over to burrow into the warmth of the sheets. Kaiba sat back and sighed, rolling his eyes although he knew Jounouchi couldn't see it. Sometimes Jounouchi was as bad as his teenaged brother when it came to wake-up calls. Trying again, he grasped onto Jounouchi's shoulder and shook. "We're going to be late if you don't get up already," he insisted.

Flopping onto his back, Jounouchi grimaced as Kaiba flicked the lamp on, a dim glow flooding the room as he pulled his lips up and eyebrows down, his nostrils flaring. "Ugh, what are you talking about? It's not like there's a particular start time," he complained as he kicked his legs free from the cocoon of twisted cloth. Lying still, he blinked several times until Kaiba's glowering face came into focus.

Kaiba stared blankly as Jounouchi erupted into a fit of laughter, the latter wrapping his arms around his sides and throwing his feet up into the air. "Nice bed head," Jounouchi managed to choke out between gasps, his amusement growing as Kaiba's frown deepened, the wrinkle between his eyebrows prominent. "Now I know why you always wake before me," Jounouchi remarked, wiping at the tears that had collected in the corners of his eyes.

Automatically, Kaiba's hand sifted through his hair, earning another peal of laughter from his bedmate. His hand dropped numbly back to his side. "Like you have any room to talk with that perpetual case of yours," Kaiba muttered.

Settling back down, Jounouchi shook a little as his composure returned. "Mine's fashionable," he replied simply.

Kaiba sighed and leaned across the bed, watching as Jounouchi's eyes slid shut, the rise and fall of his chest slowing to a gentle rhythm. He prodded at Jounouchi's hip with a finger, hooking it underneath the waistband of his boxers and pulling. It recoiled with an audible snap. "Are you up yet?"

Jounouchi yelped, darting up to a seated position, and fixed Kaiba with a half-hearted scowl. "I'm up, I'm up! Sheesh…" Kaiba merely snickered in response, moving off the bed only to find his world upended. A heavy weight bore down on him as his back met with softness—Jounouchi loomed over him, arms braced on either side of Kaiba's head, his thighs straddling the sides of Kaiba's torso. Instinctively, Kaiba's hands rested on the tops of Jounouchi's knees, his thumbs idly tracing small circles.

"That wasn't so nice, you know," Jounouchi said, his wry grin betraying his serious tone.

"Oh? Then how about proposing a better method? Although that seemed pretty effective..." Kaiba drawled, a matching grin dancing at the edge of his mouth.

Jounouchi growled low in his throat and dipped down, curving his back to hover close to Kaiba. Kaiba could feel his breath bounce off Jounouchi's face, the damp, warm air caressing his cheekbones with every shallow exhalation. Jounouchi's thick bangs tickled at the bridge of Kaiba's nose, which twitched almost imperceptibly despite himself. "Well for starters…" Jounouchi began, licking his lips before lowering them to meet Kaiba's. They were soft but slightly chapped, but not at all unpleasant. Kaiba closed his eyes, losing himself in the sensation of gentle tugs at his bottom lip, the flick of a tongue against his teeth. His hand tangled the hair at Jounouchi's nape, finding purchase to pull the other closer. When Jounouchi drew back, breathless, his eyes had dilated slightly into thick golden halos. "Something like that," he finished, searching Kaiba's face as he sat back on his heels.

Kaiba chuckled, pushing himself up on his elbows. "I'll remember that for next time. Now go get ready, Sleeping Beauty," he teased as he nudged Jounouchi off of him.

Jounouchi snorted but complied, shuffling over to the bathroom and closing the door behind him. Kaiba watched him retreat, shaking his head as he made his way to the closet. By the time Jounouchi emerged, Kaiba was already dressed, sitting quietly on the edge of their now-made bed.

Eyeing Kaiba up and down, Jounouchi scrubbed at his hair with a towel. "Is that new?"

Kaiba patted at the front of his coat. "Yes, it was an early gift from Mokuba," he replied. The double-breasted navy blue trench coat wasn't exactly Kaiba's taste, but it and the matching scarf were something his brother had picked out, and so Kaiba had humored it.

"It looks good," Jounouchi observed, disappearing into the closet.

"I'm going downstairs," Kaiba announced as he collected his keyring from the nightstand.

"Be down in a sec," Jounouchi called out.

When he reached the kitchen, Kaiba didn't bother with turning the lights on; the moonlight that streamed into the large windows was enough to illuminate the room. The coffeemaker cut through the silence, emitting a burble of rumbles as the last of the liquid dripped from the basket. Noting the time on the stove, Kaiba was thankful he'd had enough forethought to program the machine the evening earlier. He was twisting the caps onto two travel tumblers when Jounouchi lumbered down the stairs, yawning loudly.

Jounouchi accepted the offered mug gratefully, taking a cursory sip and groaning. "My sleep schedule's gonna be so screwed after this. You better let me sleep in when we get back," he griped.

"We wouldn't be getting up so early if you could've just stayed awake long enough," Kaiba replied.

"I'm not like you—I'm a morning person, not some night owl that can stay up for ungodly hours."

"I know," Kaiba said, ruffling Jounouchi's hair lightly. "Come on."

* * *

The familiar sights of Domino City soon disappeared behind them, the bustling streets and neon lights melting into the darkness of the open road. Jounouchi reclined in the passenger seat, the vibrations from the asphalt underfoot and the heat radiating through the car lulling him back to sleep. He dozed as Kaiba sped through the night, winding along the unlit two-lane road with ease.

"We're here," Kaiba said as he slowed the car to a stop. Jonouchi sat up, stretching his back as he took in their surroundings.

They had arrived at a wide, expansive field, nestled between farmland and a low mountain range in the distance. The meadow was overgrown, tall—almost knee-high—stalks of grass dusted with an array of tiny white flowers. The moon hung full overhead, its light reflecting off the flowers' petals, creating a sea of faintly glowing silver. A cluster of wind turbines stood sentinel behind them, their blades slowly spinning.

Opening the car door, Jounouchi was assaulted by the cold winter air, gravel crunching under his shoes. "Shit!" he exclaimed, the vapor of his breath condensing into tiny clouds.

A slam, and then Kaiba was beside him, chuckling low as he ventured out into the field. "Why didn't you tell me it was gonna be this cold?" Jounouchi whined, shifting from one leg to another.

"I did. You weren't paying attention," Kaiba answered cheekily.

Jounouchi hurried after Kaiba, huddling close to him as they neared the middle of the pasture.

"So when's it going to start?"

Kaiba pulled back the edge of his coat sleeve, the frigid air biting at the strip of exposed skin. "Any minute now," he responded as he watched the hands on his watch tick by. And then he stopped, scanning the area carefully before finding the spot to his satisfaction, and shook out the blanket he carried, settling it upon the ground.

Sitting down, Jounouchi drew his knees close to his chest and idly twirled a blade of grass between his fingers. After a few moments of silence passed, he peeked over at Kaiba, who was gazing upward, knees bent and weight resting on his wrists behind him. Mirroring his gaze, Jounouchi gasped as he took in the night sky.

It was a deep sapphire blue, tinged with ripples of onyx and cobalt. Stars were sprinkled and shone brightly, like tiny pearls floating atop an undulating river. They shimmered from their watch above, and Jounouchi suddenly felt very small, like he and Kaiba were two fish swimming in the vastness of the ocean.

He turned back to Kaiba, but the other seemed transfixed, as though he were a million miles away, perhaps even beyond the galaxy. His eyes were full of starlight, and Jounouchi felt a stirring in his chest, at once mesmerized and achingly alone. "Hey," he said, dispelling the quiet, "don't we need a telescope or something?"

Kaiba was pulled back to earth, blinking as though he'd forgotten where he was. A grin tugged at the corner of his lips even as he sighed, "Jounouchi, do you know anything about astronomy?"

"Nope."

The grin spread into an entire smirk. "You don't need anything special for a meteor shower," Kaiba stated, "Just patience."

Jounouchi returned his attention to the night sky. "So where am I supposed to look?"

Beside him, Kaiba shifted, an arm stretching out. "Do you see Orion's belt? Those three stars in a line," he pointed. After Jounouchi nodded, Kaiba continued, "Look up and to the east. Those two bright stars are Castor and Pollux. The meteors should originate around there."

"Ah. What are these called, again?"

"The Geminids."

"Twins, huh?" Jounouchi thought of his best friend and the pharaoh they had laid to rest many years ago. How they had been the same but different, two halves of a whole. Jounouchi wondered if the two were still connected, across time and beyond the veil of the afterlife, as he stared into eternity. It was strange to think that what he saw before him was just an imprint of the universe's memory, a glimpse of the past merging with the present. Shivering, Jounouchi convinced himself that the stinging in his eyes was from the dryness of the brisk winter air.

"Do you think they're still out there somewhere—the people who are gone?" Jounouchi asked quietly.

A pause. Somber, Kaiba replied, "I think there are things we're not meant to understand."

Silence settled over them once again as they waited. Jounouchi brought his hands to his face, blowing on them as he rubbed them together, wisps of breath curling before vanishing on the breeze.

"My father loved science. Loved astronomy. Loved learning," Kaiba said absently. The words startled Jounouchi, and he said nothing, almost afraid to break the spell.

Jounouchi counted three heartbeats before Kaiba spoke again. "My father was an astrophysicist. He met my mother on a blind date while she was still in law school. They were both young, but they married after only a year of dating. They had me some years later." Once they started, the words seemed to spill out of Kaiba, as though he had waited a long time to give voice to the confession. "Every year, he insisted upon watching this meteor shower. 'A way to say goodbye to the year,' he'd say. So he would take us out—to this very spot, actually—and we would watch our regrets burn away, making new wishes on falling stars." He smiled then, soft and wistful, and Jounouchi felt the aching in his chest return, twisting up to his throat.

Jounouchi swallowed hard. The admission was something he couldn't relate to, so instead he said, "It's a shame Mokuba couldn't be here."

Kaiba hummed in agreement, lacing his fingers over his knees, "He's doing fine. This study abroad will be good for him."

There was a popping, and a whistling like fireworks, and a white streak tore across the sky, dissipating in a split-second.

"Was that just—"

Then the sky erupted. Bursts of light radiated in intervals, running random trails, birth and death cycling in a never-ending stream. Jounouchi watched, awestruck, and felt his own regrets—some long harbored—crumble to ash with each fading glimmer.

They sat there for a while, perhaps a minute, perhaps an hour, perhaps a lifetime.

"Did you make a wish?"

Jounouchi turned to Kaiba, his cheeks reddened, and realized with utter clarity that no matter the time nor the circumstance, he would always orbit this man beside him.

When Kaiba looked at him, he was no longer far away. "There's no need," he said, taking Jounouchi's freezing fingers and into his and drawing them into his coat pocket. The hand around Jounouchi's was surprisingly warm.

* * *

2013's Geminid shower occurs on the night of December 13/14 - it's an amazing experience, so go see it!


End file.
